There are many things that the pandemic has put a halt to, but poaching is not one of them. In fact, poaching has picked up in South Africa. Land that is typically used by visitors and safari guides is being encroached on by poachers. Many elephants, rhinos, lions, and other African wildlife are being pushed into extinction in the next several decades, all due to poaching.
You see, poachers are typically professionals that are used to running off with rhino horns in minutes and dodging security. With tourism down, they have been able to enter into more tourism hot spots that are lacking visitors and safari guides. The patrols have been reduced due to the lack of funds available, making it that much more easily accessible for poachers. Like many people around the world, people in Africa are finding it hard to make ends meet, basically forcing them to turn to poaching animals for meat and money. It’s simple as to why this is all happening – desperate times call for desperate measures and these poachers have no guilt or shame doing these things.
We need to start thinking of ways to help these endangered species before they are gone. We need to start asking – how can we help these endangered species? How can we use technology to help put this problem to rest? How can we prevent these things from happening in the future? This pandemic is leaving elephants, rhinos, and other African wildlife in danger now more than before. Link to the full article
